It’s that time of year again when we spend an enormous amount of time and money rushing around, and purchasing gifts for our friends and family. We also spend time and energy decorating everything from our homes to our desks. Don’t get me wrong, there is NOTHING wrong with all of this, I enjoy as much as the next guy (well maybe not the decorating part, putting lights on my house is a CHORE!) And what Christmas would be complete without the obligatory “Office Christmas Party?” And it’s at one of these moments of merriment that I would like to focus…
We have all been there, at that office party, and we have gotten a gift that is well…not really ANYTHING that we need or want. But we don’t want to just throw it way, because someone took the time to purchase and wrap this gift for us. So, what are we to do?
Why not re-gift it? Re-gifting is the process of taking a gift from someone, and giving it to someone else. Most of the time, it has a negative connotation, for instance: let’s say that someone buys me a CD. They have taken the time to buy me a copy of Wayne Newton’s Greatest Hits. Now Wayne Newton is considered by some, to be a great singer, but I however, do not really like Wayne Newton. So instead of just tossing that CD away, I decide that I will give that CD to someone who I know LOVES Wayne Newton. I have RE-gifted that CD.
But re-gifting doesn’t always have to be something negative. In fact, I believe that Jesus Christ instituted re-gifting here in Matthew 28:18-20.
Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus says that “All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me.” Now, who gave Jesus that authority? God did. God gave His son ALL authority, ALL power, ALL wisdom, ALL sanction, ALL right, ALL license, ALL things over heaven and over earth. In other words, Jesus is the end all, be all over what happens on earth and in heaven. God have given that authority to his son, Jesus Christ.
And what does Jesus Christ do with that authority? He turns around and re-gifts it back to us.
Jesus says, “Therefore, YOU go…” I know that whatever translation you may have doesn’t ACTUALLY say YOU go, but Jesus was telling His disciples to go, and He is telling us today to go.
And that brings me to my main point: we have been called by God to go into all the world. We have been called by God to make a difference. It’s in our DNA. We exist not to just be a church, but to be the church. We want to meet people where they are and allow God to touch them and transform them into new creatures. We want to be better ourselves and help those around us be better. We want to transform our communities, through God’s power, into cities of love, a cities of hope, a cities of faith.
God can do that, but we must respond to His call. We must choose to take a stand for the Kingdom. We must move past our fears and failures. We must follow God, at all costs.
And to do that, we must re-gift all that God gifted to Jesus, and all that Jesus re-gifted to us.
But more on that tomorrow!
Nice!!! Greater things are yet to come my brother!